What this means is to play to your strengths, and your strengths only, and don't try to be the superhero when you know you can't be. If your team is down by a run in the ninth inning, don't try and hit a homerun if you know you can't, just try to get on base any way you can to keep your team alive. When you're in the outfield and you know you aren't going to be able to get to a ball, don't try to make the impossible diving play, just slow up and play it on a hop to be sure that the ball doesn't get passed you and you keep the runner where he is.
If you know that you don't have a lot of power at the plate, then you need to get up to bat with the mentality of just putting the ball in play. You don't have to swing as hard as you can, because a screaming line drive into left field for a single is just as good as a well placed bunt for a hit. Do what you're already good at, and then work on the things you aren't so good at in practice so you can start to incorporate some of those things during game time situations.
Another thing that you definitely can't do is attempt to steal a base when you know that you aren't capable of doing so. Even if you have an average amount of speed, base stealing requires a lot of other elements, so if you aren't ready for that don't even try, because 9 out of 10 times you'll get thrown out. That's one of the quickest ways to get thrown on the bench: steal a base without the sign and get thrown out. Coaches hate that.
So the one thing you need to keep in mind when you're playing is don't try and make yourself stand out. If you're good enough your talent will speak for itself, you shouldn't try and manufacture talent out of something you know you can't do. Play baseball to benefit your team and do what you know you can do to succeed. Thank you for reading, and be sure to check out my other posts for ways to improve your overall baseball game.
-Brandon
No comments:
Post a Comment